To ask if you've ever been on a European road trip, what are your tips?!

[FunnyReally]

Me and H are trying to arrange this as our (long awaited) honeymoon.

We have a rough route planned out avoiding the larger cities and sticking to the smaller towns/villages as much as possible. We are doing France, Belgium, Germany, Prague, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and the back to France.

Any tips from anyone who's done this before? We are newbies and trying to research as much as possible!

So many fabulous towns in Holland other than Amsterdam!

Download Park4night app, it's saved my bacon many times. Currently on day 9 in France and haven't yet paid for parking.

Don't try to do too much. Europe is massive!

Take an inverter for the van, great for charging stuff.

If you break down in France, allow plenty of time. Our insurer in Holland had to communicate with their French partners by fax when we broke down on a Friday afternoon and there was no-one around to answer the phone. Nothing was done until Monday.

Low-emissions sticker for Germany - can be bought online from the Berlin City Office and is valid for all cities in Germany. It costs 6 Euro and takes about 10 days to arrive by post.
www.berlin.de/senuvk/umwelt/luftqualitaet/umweltzone/en/fahrzeug_plakette.shtml#fp3

Austrian Vignette - can be bought at all petrol stations in surrounding countries just before the border.

Cash/small change - toilets on the German and Austrian autobahns charge 70 cents (but you get a 50 cent voucher to use in the kiosk or café). Many restaurants and small hotels in Europe still don't take credit cards. Few businesses (incl. supermarkets and petrol stations) will accept €200 notes and none will accept €500 notes, so refuse them if offered by your bank or bureau de change.

Park & Ride is common and well signposted throughout Europe - often at railway stations or a bus/tram terminus. Many cities offer City Cards that include free public transport, free or reduced prices for museums etc.

OTC medicines - as mentioned earlier ibuprofen, aspirin, bonjela, insect-bite cream etc. is not usually available from supermarkets and costs a fortune at an Apotek. Take plenty with you.

Other than that get onto TripAdvisor, websites such as 'Visit XX' or google local tourist office websites, book a ticket to Calais/Dunkirk/Hook of Holland/Rotterdam etc and just go!

Borders - in theory there are no borders between Schengen countries, but as other have discovered, spot-checks are being carried out occasionally. This summer for example there have been occasional border checks between Austria and Germany on the A8 near Salzburg, and between Germany and Denmark.